To find out how the WDC compared, LETTERBOX asked the WDC for details about its open competitive process. Here’s their reply:
“I refer to your request…for statistics on procurement contracts for the 2024/2025 Financial Year….Council does not hold the information requested… I hope this information is of some assistance in responding to your request.”
It is astounding that the Council does not know how many contracts it has awarded without an open competitive process. Surely that is something they should know, and more importantly, something councillors ought to know if they are at all interested in how efficiently ratepayer money is being spent.
Still in Hamilton, shop owners have a message that could also be directed at the WDC “task force” looking into revitalising the CBD - two hours of free parking.
Hamilton shop owners in the CBD say there has been a noticeable decrease in business after the previous council reduced the free parking from two hours to one hour.
If the WDC Mayoral Taskforce for City Centre Revitalisation is serious about attracting people back into the city, it could start with two hours of free parking across the entire CBD during normal business hours and unrestricted parking outside those hours. At the moment, the WDC offers free parking on the rooftop of the Central City Carpark—but only in December. That appears to be more symbolic than serious.